TRUMP UPBEAT ABOUT ASSETS HE'LL KEEP AS EMPIRE CRUMBLES

Donald Trump said much of his financial empire will be broken up with many assets, including the Trump Shuttle and his personal yacht, going to a syndicate of banks that lent him $2 billion last year.

Nevertheless, the embattled financier said Thursday he will keep many key properties, including the famed Plaza Hotel."This is a positive story," he insisted in a telephone interview. "This shows Trump will be around forever."

Trump said he still would press his plan to turn some rooms in the plush Plaza in Manhattan into condominiums "but not that many."

He also will retain the Penn Central railroad yards property on the west side of Manhattan and turn that into a mixed development of commercial and residential space within the next 18 months. Trump said he planned "quite a few more developments" but declined to elaborate.

"We have reduced debt substantially," he said. "When you reduce debt, you have to sell assets," he said.